HEALTH NOTES: Virtual Reality headsets to predict miscarriages

Experts may soon be able to predict which pregnancies will end in miscarriages using virtual reality (VR) headsets.

Researchers from Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands developed the system using ultrasound scans on women eight weeks into pregnancy. Each scan was modified into 3D and magnified until the embryo was the size of an adult, which was then inspected by experts using VR headsets that enabled them to move around and spot any issues.

Analyses showed those that were developing unusually slowly were less likely to make it full term.

Experts may soon be able to predict which pregnancies will end in miscarriages using virtual reality (VR) headsets

NHS to ramp up training in autism

More than 1,300 NHS psychiatrists are to undergo training to radically improve their knowledge of autism.

Professor Ashok Roy, a consultant psychiatrist who will lead the two-year programme developed by Health Education England, said it aims to stop autistic people being unnecessarily admitted to mental health hospitals.

Autism affects about 700,000 people in the UK with a wide spectrum of mental health issues. NHS data suggests about 1,100 people with autism are currently in psychiatric hospitals, often due to a misdiagnosis of their condition or a lack of appropriate care facilities.

Tom Cahill, NHS England’s director for learning disability and autism, said: ‘We want to ensure people working across the NHS develop their knowledge to help better support the needs of autistic people.’

More than 1,300 NHS psychiatrists are to undergo training to radically improve their knowledge of autism

Sexual activity in Britain has dropped to its lowest in decade, according to a study by University College London and University of Glasgow.

People in the UK, on average, have sex twice a month, compared with three times a month in 2010. The researchers also noted fewer pregnancies compared with a decade ago.

The data comes from the biggest sex survey in the UK, involving 6,500 adults, and the experts suggest the slump in intimacy may be a residual effect of the pandemic – when social contact was limited. They also found that a quarter of men and a fifth of women said their sex life was worse in 2021 compared with 2020.

Specialist pain clinics are prescribing too many addictive painkillers, an NHS boss has warned.

There are roughly 200 pain centres across the UK, which offer treatments that include psychotherapy, exercises and strong pain medication. But according to Professor Anthony Avery, an NHS England clinical director, too often they ‘end up prescribing higher strength opioids’ – strong painkillers that can swiftly become addictive. According to some mental health services, addiction to these prescription painkillers has risen 40 per cent over the past decade.

‘I have largely stopped referring to pain clinics,’ Prof Avery told the Pulse magazine conference last week.